Two Main Problems I Have with Kindle Vella

I've had problems getting original short stories and series into the public eye. The main problem is that I love writing fanfiction (aka fanfic) and have ended up with some fanfics whose outlines have been saved until I have time to write them.

When I heard of Kindle Vella before its release, I grew excited. Here was a way that I could get stories of mine out into the public eye just like I did my fanfics. I could release chapter by chapter which meant I could get reviews sooner. Though on Kindle Vella chapters are called episodes for some reason.

But as I continue to write The Fate of Binora, there are two major problems with Kindle Vella that are irritating me more and more.

The first is that Kindle Vella is currently only available for writers and readers that are residents of the United States of America (US). This means that all my readers in places like Canada, England, and Brazil won't be able to read The Fate of Binora and any other Kindle Vella stories I make. Hopefully later on this service will be available worldwide.

So if you're thinking of publishing on Kindle Vella, you need to be certain that you'll have a large enough audience in the US. Otherwise you should look into other ways of publishing.

The other major problem is that the first three chapters of any Kindle Vella story are free. This is great for readers as they're able to better judge if a story deserves their hard earned cash. But for writers this is a problem.

What do I mean? First you'll have to make sure that the first three episodes are engaging enough that readers read them and are willing to pay for future episodes. The second is that you'll have to wait until you publish your fourth episode to have the chance to get paid for your hard work. I've been sick all year so I'm not able to write like I usually do and I'm still editing episode two.

I still plan to use Kindle Vella because I am hoping that as time goes on changes will be made. While I imagine that the service will eventually extend outside of the US, I'm not too sure that the number of free episodes will change.